"Thank you," she murmured as she climbed the rest of the steps with him.
There was no line outside the door, the one good thing about coming at night to visit the blood bank. The corded muscles in Jack's forearm bunched beneath her hand as he stepped onto the landing with her. "How do you like having the donation center?" he asked.
"We've always had the blood bank," she told him. "The humans in this town were never as oppressed as they were in other towns."
"Why is that?"
"Because when you know what it feels like to be hunted and persecuted you don't often like to return the favor on other living creatures."
He frowned at her as he stopped before the large wooden door of the bank. His hand rested on the brass handle, keeping it closed on her. "And you know what it feels like to be persecuted?"
"No, not me. I'm too young for that and I was born here."
"And just how old are you?" he asked.
"Twenty three." He quirked an eyebrow at her answer. "You?"
"Much older," he confirmed.
"How much older?"
"Nine hundred and nine years older than you to be exact."
She couldn't stop her mouth from dropping as he continued to give her that roguish grin that she was certain had melted a lot of hearts over nine hundred and thirty two years of living. He chuckled as he placed his finger under her chin and nudged her mouth closed. "You haven't heard a lot about my family?" he asked.
"I've heard some. I know that you are of the most ancient line and it's rumored the new king married a human."
"He did, but she's not human anymore."
"She survived the transformation?" Hannah blurted.
His finger stroked her chin before he dropped it away. She missed the contact with him immediately. "She did."
"Amazing."
She'd never witnessed a transformation herself but she'd heard they were vicious and that most humans didn't survive it. "It's believed that Aria and her brothers have vampire DNA within them. I know the three of them were always a little faster, more attuned to their surroundings, and more graceful than most humans. William might be the fastest human I've ever seen when he's running."
He just kept the bombshells rolling. "William is the queen's brother?"
"Twin actually."
She shook her head. "I really wish I'd known you guys were going to be staying at our place," she muttered. They'd always kept a clean establishment but it could use a fresh coat of paint.
He let out a low laugh. "Your tavern is very pleasant and the bed was comfy. Believe me we've stayed in far worse before."
It wasn't overly comforting but it was something. "Do you plan on returning to the palace soon?"
The smile slid from his face. "Maybe one day, but not anytime soon."
He didn't belong here, she was certain of that much, but there was something that completely fascinated her about him. "Do you plan to stay here for awhile?"
He shrugged. "For as long as I think we're needed." It wasn't the response she'd been hoping to hear, but then she didn't know what response she'd been expecting from him. "So why were the older vampires here persecuted?" he inquired.
Her hand fluttered to her forehead as she realized that he didn't know the history behind this town. For a minute she contemplated not telling him about the residents of Chippman. She wanted so badly to continue to seem normal to him, if only for another night. Lying about it would accomplish nothing though, it would only make him distrust her when he found out the truth, and it was only a matter of time before he did.
"Most vampires here are Undesirables," she informed him.
His forehead furrowed over the bridge of his nose as he stared at her. "Undesirables?"
"They have flawed DNA. There's something wrong with almost every vampire here."
"Like Saul," he muttered. "But Saul was never persecuted."
"I don't know who Saul is but if he managed to escape being persecuted then he's a lucky man."
Jack's fingers briefly stroked her arm. She didn't think he even realized that he was doing it as he looked around the town. "Saul was an aristocrat before they all relinquished their titles and became The Council. He didn't stop aging until he was in his fifties. I didn't realize that there were so many vampires with the same DNA fault."
"Not everyone here has the same fault as this Saul or my Uncle Abe; there are other changes that have occurred within the vampires here. Normal vampires didn't like the oddities amongst them and made this point known. My father and Uncle Abe were siblings. Their parents, who were also Undesirables, had heard about a town established as a safe haven for vampires like them and came here. My mother and Lucas's mother were also siblings and were both born here. Saul was apparently lucky enough to have a powerful family to protect him."
His gaze sharpened on her, her stomach began to twist as she braced herself for what she knew was the inevitable next question. Thankfully Ellen came strolling down the sidewalk and bounded up the steps. "You're still here!" Ellen said eagerly. "I thought I was going to miss you."
Ellen's deep brown eyes flitted between the two of them before focusing on his hand lying on Hannah's arm. She shot Hannah a look that clearly asked 'what the...?' Hannah didn't have an answer for her though. "Are you going in?" Ellen inquired.
"Of course," Hannah gushed out, unbelievably grateful for the distraction that Ellen's appearance had offered from Jack's line of questioning.
Jack pulled open the door and stepped into the candlelit main foyer of the blood bank. The lanterns hanging within the dome illuminated the mural of mountains and rivers painted within the curved top. A forty foot long red carpet stretched across the gleaming hardwood floor toward the massive reception desk. The desk was set in between two halls that stretched into the shadows beyond, one hall led to the rooms full of humans that were offering their blood. She'd heard rumors about what went on in those rooms but she'd never been in one and she never would go in them. The other hall led to a large room that had been set up with bags of blood.